GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 633 



36. BEISA, L. Quaking Grass. (PL 10.) 



Spikclets many-flowered, ovato or heart-shaped, flattish-tumid ; the flowers 

 closely imbricated. Glumes roundish, unequal (purple). Lower palet round- 

 ish and entire, flattened parallel with the glumes, ventricose on the back, heart- 

 shaped at the base, papery-membranaceous and becoming dry, scarious-mar- 

 gined, obscurely many-nerved; the upper palet much smaller, ovate, flat. Sta- 

 mens 3. Stigmas branched-plumosc. Grain flattened parallel with the palcts, 

 adhering to the upper one. — Leaves flat. Panicle loose, diffuse, with the large 

 and showy spikelets often drooping on delicate pedicels (whence the name, an 

 ancient Greek appellation for some kind of grain, from /3pi£c«>, to slumber (Linn.), 

 or fipidoi, to bend downwards.) 



1. 33. media, L. Panicle erect, the branches spreading; spikelets 5-9- 

 flowered (3" long) ; glumes shorter than the lower flowers ; root perennial. — 

 Pastures : sparingly eastward. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



37. PESTXJCA, L. Fescue-Grass. (PI. 10.) 



Spikelets 3 - many-flowered, panicled or racemose; the flowers not webby at 

 the base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled. Palcts chartaceous or almost coria- 

 ceous, roundish (not keeled) on the back, more or less 3-5-nervcd, acute, 

 pointed, or often bristle-awned from the tip, rarely blunt; the upper mostly ad- 

 hering at maturity to the enclosed grain. Stamens 1-3. — Flowers, and often 

 the leaves, rather dry and harsh. (An ancient Latin name.) 



* Flowers awl-shaped, bristle-pointed or awned from the tip : panicle contracted. 



•»- Annuals or biennials, slender, 5'- 18' high: leaves convolute-bristle-form. 



. 1. "F. Myurus, L. Panicle spike-like, one-sided ; spikelets about 5-flowcred ; 



glumes very unequal ; awn much longer than the palet, fully G'' in length ; stamen I. 



— Dry fields, New Jersey, S. Penn., and southward. July. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. IP. tenella, Willd. Panicle spike-like, one-sided, or more compound 

 and open ; spikelets 7-13-flowered ; awn l"-3" long, shorter than or equalling the 

 palet : stamens 2. — Dry, sterile soil, especially southward. June, July. 



+- +- Perennial, tufed, G'-24' high: stamens 3. 



3. F. OVina, L. (Sheep's Fescue.) Panicle somewhat one-sided, short, 

 usually more or less compound, open in flowering ; spikelets 3 - 8-flowered ; awn 

 not more than half the length of the flower, often much shorter or almost want- 

 ing. — Indigenous in Northern New England, Lake Superior, and northward: 

 naturalized farther south as a pasture grass. June. — Varies greatly. — Var. 

 vivfpARA (which with us has running rootstocks), a state with the spikelets 

 partially converted into leafy shoots, is found on the alpine summits of the 

 White Mountains of New Hampshire, and high northward. — Var. duriuscula, 

 (F. duriuscula, L.) is a tall form, with spikelets rather larger, usually in a more 

 compound panicle ; culm-leaves often flat or less convolute, and the lower with 

 their sheaths either smooth or hairy. New England to Virginia; nat., and in- 

 digenous northward. — Var. rubra (F. rubra, L.) has running rootstocks and 

 forms looser tufts ; the leaves often reddish and pubescent above. Naturalized 

 eastward: wild, Lake Superior, Dr. Robbins, and northward. (Eu.) 



